Science Buddies: "Ask an Expert"

Hello Science Buddies,

I am a senior in high school taking AP Physics who is interested in doing a science project on mathematical modeling and animal population growth. I have decided that I want to construct two models, one of a predator and one of its prey, but I am not sure where to go from there. I want to make the project original, but I cannot seem to think of any ways to interpret the model once I have it. I was thinking of changing the carrying capacity, but that seems too simple. PLEASE RESPONSE ASAP. THANK YOU!

nswamy13,

Thank you for your question, and welcome to science buddies.

You didn't mention on what system/program you were going to build your model of predator and prey. However, what if you modeled a population of each, using numbers from the real world, like the average heard (H_ave) size of say wildebeest and an average pride of lions (P_ave). Using statistics, you could model the predators probability of kill (pK) vs the preys probability of survival (pS) and determine ranges of population size , kill/survival rates that promote a balanced eco-system (of course neglecting many other environmental factors).

You would need to build this model in a constructive computer model and using a "monte-carlo" simulation technique change your variables, pK, pS, H_ave, and P_ave.

Just a thought. Post back if you have any other questions or need more ideas.